Crimson Tear
by ladyvice
Summary: (Ch 3 is up!)10 years after the journey west-Mei is the 'adopted' daughter of Hakkai with a bloody past strangely connected to both Gojyo and Sanzo. When her past comes back to haunt her, Sanzo and the others--along with Gojyo's son set out to resolve the
1. Default Chapter

The air was damp and heavy, making it hard for Cho Mei to breathe even in the best of circumstances. However, rushing down five sets of stairs from the rooftop to escape the coming rain was hardly the best of circumstances. The first raindrop had yet to fall but there was thunder in the distance. Besides that, she had that feeling that always came with the rain...feeling alone. As she dashed down the steep stairway, she misjudged the distance to the next step and fell forward...directly into her father's arms. "Mei!" he exclaimed, helping her upright. "I was just coming to get you. Are you alright?" She nodded and he pushed a few strands of stray black hair from her eyes. "The color is coming out," he noted. "Are you going to dye it again?"

"I have to." She replied slowly and offered no explanation. She didn't have to. She couldn't let anyone see the red, ever.

"I wish you wouldn't." She frowned. He always said that but he didn't have to worry about the same thing.

"I'm going to, Hakkai," she said plainly and his smile faded. He hated the fact that she couldn't call him, "dad" or "father", or rather that she wouldn't. There was no blood relation between them. In fact, he didn't even hold legal guardianship over her after all this time. He'd never even tried to get it. The only reason she'd taken his last name was because she'd forgotten hers. Mei had forgotten most of her past.

When Hakkai and the other three had found her ten years ago, she was sitting in a pool of her own family's blood, holding a knife in her hand and crying. She didn't remember but she knew what she must have done. At the time, she was six and already a killer. Hakkai took her in because Sanzo-sama wanted nothing to do with her and Gojyo didn't want to have a kid around. She hadn't seen them in years.

She lowered her eyes and pushed past him. "Mei..." She paused. "Are you coming tomorrow?"

"Yes." No matter how much she didn't want to spend time with him, she wanted to see Gojyo again. The ride in the jeep was going to be a long one. Hakkai had told her about two hours.

"Is 9 a good time to leave?" He always asked, though she never believed he'd change plans if ever there were a conflict. She felt it was always best just to agree and avoid a conflict.

"Perfect."

"Do you want me to wake you up?"

"No. I'll get myself up."

Silence.

"Have you had dinner yet, Mei? We could go out for dinner tonight."

"No. That's alright. I'm not hungry. I'm just tired. I think I'll get some sleep."

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow," she replied and hurried the rest of the way down the stairs.

Hakkai looked after her, the familiar smile far from his face. Why couldn't he connect with her? What was he doing wrong? At least they'd had a conversation that day, which was more than could be said for most days. Most of the time, he was lucky to get a cold stare over dinner. She hated him, though she was as polite and superficially kind as possible. All he wanted to know...was why?


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

She slept most of the way there, waking up just as the house where Gojyo had taken up residency came into view. "Is this it?" she wondered aloud.

"This is it!" Hakkai replied, pleased to know that he wouldn't have to wake her.

It was a small, two-story house with a garden in the back yard, surrounded by an ill cared for lawn. Hakkai parked the jeep and the two of them exited in silence and Hakuryu resumed his natural form. "Does he live here all alone?"

"No..." Hakkai said. "He has a son, Makoto just a year or two older than you."

"Hakkai!" They looked up to see Gojyo casually leaning against the porch rail wearing jeans and a blue button-down shirt that he hadn't bothered to button down, crimson hair tied back behind his head. "You drive so slow! Even for an old man!" Hakkai laughed and they came up to the porch where Gojyo was standing. "This is Mei-chan?" He said tilting his head sideways. "You've grown up a lot." He placed a cigarette in his mouth. "And you didn't turn out too bad, after all. In fact, if I were twenty or so years younger-"

Gojyo suddenly stumbled forward as a familiar harisen made contact with his thick skull. "Cradle robbing kappa!" Sanzo's stated and kicked Gojyo the rest of the way down the stairs. Goku appeared behind him, slightly taller.

"What?" Gojyo turned back to the straight-faced monk. "What'd you call me?" he raised a fist.

"Everyone seems to be here..."Hakkai stated, smiling nervously at the thought of what kind of fight might break out after ten years of not seeing each other.

"Pervy, cradle-robbing kappa!" Goku repeated for Sanzo who was becoming increasingly annoyed by the situation.

"Baka." Sanzo stated, picking his ear.

"Harahita..." Goku said as his stomach growled. "Gojyo...can we have lunch NOW?"

Gojyo placed his hands in his pockets. "I ordered some Chinese and sent Makoto on an errand." He turned to Mei. "That's right! You haven't met Makoto, yet have you?" He smiled and winked at her. "You're in luck, Mei-chan. Makoto's just become available."

Mei shrank back slightly and felt her cheeks begin to burn.

"Okaasan!" Gojyo's eye twitched and he turned his head slowly, making it very obvious that he was annoyed, to his son's voice. Goku snickered.

"Stop calling me that! I'm not your mother!" Makoto shrugged and walked past everyone without any sort of greeting. Gojyo growled.

"That was Makoto?" Mei asked staring after him. What happened to the red hair and eyes that his father wore so proudly and that she hid in shame? He was a tall, well-built brunette with strange blue eyes...

"Hai..." Gojyo replied, scratching his head. "Looks more like his mother, ne, Hakkai?" Hakkai only smiled.

"Hey..." Sanzo said pulling his cigarette from his mouth and blowing a steady stream of smoke out. "You're all going to starve if you don't go pull Goku away from the food, Gojyo."

"That's right!" Gojyo said, suddenly remembering the food, and headed back inside followed by Hakkai.

Sanzo stopped Mei at the door. "You're dying your hair." He noted without a change in expression. "And wearing contacts, too."

"That's right." She did her best not to sound as if she felt ashamed.

"Hmmph..." He flicked the butt of his cigarette out into the yard. "How do you and Hakkai get along?"

She couldn't tell if he was just trying to make conversation or tying to make a point of some kind. Either way, the answer had to be a lie. "Fine."

Sanzo narrowed his eyes for a moment then looked away and said nothing. As she proceeded into the house she heard him say something quietly: "I should have taken her instead."

For some reason the statement struck strangely, as if he'd touched on an old wound she didn't know she had. Why did it even matter to him? He'd openly stated that he didn't want her around. _Goku was hard enough to take care of_, he'd said. _I don't need another one._ She sighed and moved past the doorway. Sanzo-sama didn't want her, Hakkai seemed to ignore her...But Gojyo had spoken to her and he seemed to care at least that she was there. For the moment, that was all that mattered.


	3. chapter three

Chapter Three

_She was begging him, pleading with him and he wondered if he should be listening. "Please, Sanzo-sama...Help me."_

"_Why?" She looked up at him with pleading gray eyes. "What happens to you is none of my business."_

"_Sanzo..." Hakkai started, obviously concerned about the situation._

"_This isn't for me..." the woman started. "She's just a little girl. Take her to the next town with you! Just keep her away from here. They'll kill her if she stays. Maybe I deserve to die but she can't help it...Mei can't help it that she was born only half human."_

"_What makes you think she's better off anywhere else?" Sanzo replied. "This town is no different than the rest of the world. She has the same chance of living here as anywhere else."_

"_Maybe so but I can't sit by and do nothing. I have to try."_

"_I don't care about your problem." Sanzo said and turned away._

"_Sanzo!" Hakkai called after him as he began to walk in the opposite direction of the woman. "At least consider..."_

"_Don't you have a heart at all?" the female yokai yelled. Sanzo kept walking. "You have no idea how it feels to have just one thing in the world...and to have that one thing slip through your hands like sand!" _

_Sanzo stopped suddenly and turned his head slightly to the right. There was an awkward silence for a moment as Sanzo debated what to say next. He knew all too well what she meant. "To the next town," he said. "And no further."_

Sanzo Opened his eyes slowly to Gojyo's living room, filled from wall to wall with visitors. Hakkai and Makoto were playing a game of chess; Gojyo was sitting beside the phone in the corner, looking as if he was awaiting some sort of call. Mei was watching the game of chess intently. All of them were silent.

He wondered how long he'd been asleep and decided that it didn't matter. It didn't appear he'd missed much. After only a few minutes, the silence was driving the priest insane. "Gojyo," he said and Gojyo looked away from the phone. "Ever heard the saying, 'a watched pot never boils'?"

"He's waiting on mom to call back." Makoto said and moved a piece, calling, "Check." Then he continued, "Even though she probably never will. She never does."

"Play your game, Makoto." Gojyo said frowning. The phone rang and Gojyo picked it up quickly. "Hello...Yeah. What? What the...?" he looked up. "Hold on. I'm gonna go get the other phone." Then quietly he said, "If you hang up on me I swear," before hastily exiting the room.

Hakkai moved another piece and Sanzo heard Makoto sigh in frustration. "Where did you learn to play this game, Hakkai?" the younger man asked.

"To tell the truth, I really don't remember."

"I taught you." Mei said with a frown. "Remember?"

"So you did...I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

Everyone's attention left the chess game and was drawn to the kitchen from which a lengthy string of curses was coming.

"No..." Gojyo's voice echoed. "How the hell did you find that out? What do you mean he called you? Don't get smart...Sorry but it isn't all my fault. Yeah. There's such a word as 'no', you know. Don't give me that bullshit...you were one hundred percent sober. Hey...don't you hang up on me! Yuki! Damn..." Gojyo appeared in the doorway. "Your mom's coming for a visit. She'll be here within the hour...What a pleasant surprise." He turned to go but paused. "And you're grounded from the phone, too."

Makoto sighed and turned back to the game. Casually, he moved one of the pieces. "Checkmate," he said and Hakkai agreed.

"Makoto! Help me clean the place up a bit!" Gojyo called. "In here. I wanna talk to you."

"I'll put the board and pieces away." Hakkai said. Hakuryu tugged at Hakkai's collar. "As soon as I take care of whatever Hakuryu wants..."

"I'll do it." Mei offered and Hakkai nodded, exiting with the insistent dragon.

One by one, Mei began placing the pieces back in the box and then stood to move the table back into place. Sanzo watched her in silence. _To the next town and no further..._

"Sanzo-sama...can you help me?" He said nothing and did not move. "Please, Sanzo-sama...Help me?"

Her mother had said that ten years ago with the same look in her eyes. But Mei always looked that way. She was one of those women no one could ever love, only feel sorry for because she felt so sorry for herself. It would be different if she smiled a little. "Mei..."he started. He wanted to ask her how much she remembered from that night, how much Hakkai had told her and how much she had guessed. Surely over the years she'd discovered something about her past and the odd connection between them, the reason he'd made an honest effort not to keep in contact with her. Could she really have no idea whatsoever? He wanted to ask her a dozen things at once but all he could think to say was, "What the hell are you asking me for? Goku, get off your ass and help her move the table back."


End file.
